Because of China’s "one child per family" policy, many baby girls, including my sister, have been abandoned on the streets of China. With new rules restricting the amount of children being adopted internationally, there exists a desperate need to provide better care for the children living in orphanages.

I traveled to China with a camera last summer to make a short film about the plight of Chinese orphans, and to look into the Sunbeam Village concept, a new and exciting project that has the potential to change the lives of orphans around the world.

After viewing, please email me at zachlee4@gmail.com if you would like to sponsor me in the New York City Marathon this November 1st, 2009, as I run 26.2 miles to raise money to build a Sunbeam Village in Laibin, China.

These children changed my life forever, and they need our help.

Zach and his sister, Zilana

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Hello everyone,
My name is Zachary Lee - I am 19 years old and am from Greenwich, CT. 6 years ago, my family adopted a little girl from the An Qing Children's Welfare Institute in China. This beautiful 8 year old girl, whose name is Zilana, has changed my life forever. I have raised funds in the past for the abandoned children of China - but I could never completely identify with the cause that was so close to my heart. In January of this year, I came to the conclusion that the only way I could truly understand the situation in China, and the only way I could figure out the best means of helping the orphans trapped within these borders, was to see with my own eyes how they lived. So, I began to contruct a trip to China, aiming to see all the aspects of the country - from Beijing to Shanghai to the poor rural towns of Bobai and Yulin. The trip now stands...

Beijing --> Shanghai --> Nanning --> Bobai --> Yulin --> Wuzhou --> Guilin --> Hong Kong

Right now, it is easy for me to update this blog. I am writing from a hotel in Beijing, where we can pay for 30 minutes of internet at a time. In Shanghai, I will be staying with a friend for a couple days, so updates will be simple there as well. Once I make it down south, though, internet is a rareity, but I will try my best to make my way to a computer whenever I can.

The updates today will seem very "touristy," but what can I do? It's my first time in Beijing, and all I can say is... "wow". My friend, also named Zach (we will address him as Rebich, his last name), thankfully joined me on this trip. He's quite a trooper. We are guided by the Alliance's Wu Si, who essentially coordinates the Sunbeam Villiages, which if you do not know about already, you will certainly be hearing about when Rebich and I make it to Nanning and on. But in Beijing thus far, having arrived only 2 days ago, we have managed to see the Forbidden City, Tienneman Square and Beihai Park, go a mile on the Great Wall, and have a surprising (and I really mean I was surprised only at the end to find out what exactly we had eaten) meal of duck heart, duck feet, duck everything else with a desert of fish (it was looking at me on the plate...). Chinese culture is very different, but I am beginning to get a feel for it.

I promise I will write a much better, and more detailed update later, but my time here is short, and I am throughly exausted after the long day. Also, I'm not sure if duck heart agrees with me...
- Zach